Wire line grip



Batented Mar. 23, 1943 UNITED STATES AENT QFF'ICE WIRE LINE GRIP .J amesP. Ratigan, Los Angeles, Calif.

ApplicationAugust 30, 1941, Serial .Nm-409,109

6 Claims.

My invention relates toa wire line grip V`and has particular reference to .awir'e .1ine.grip of ring or eye form; particularly `adapted vto provide a pivotal,connectionbetween a cable;and.a.trunnion and nding particular .utility when employed to connect the Ahorsehead vsling v.to the trunnions of the carrierbar in oil wellpumping installations.

Heretofore it has been 'common practice in .oil Well pumping installations to employ an eye;

member having a taperedfcable Asocket into which :the end of the lcable.wasfpla-ced, ared youtwardly, 'and the socketthen 'flled with'molten lead orbabbitt to securevthe cable vtothe eye, vnecessitatingthe use of heating-apparatus immediately fadjacentthewell with many disadvantages `and ydangers-attendant thereto.

To eliminate these disadvantages, it hasbeen suggested to employ aswire line grip lfhaving a body member includingra ring or eye and'having a cable receiving groove or recess thereinito receive a portion only o'f the'diameterfofthe cable and then to employ a clamp or grip member having ya corresponding cable receiving Igroove or recess "tobe-drawn against and clamped Aupon the body memberby'means of hinges, :bolts or Vother fastenings to grip v'the cable 'in clamped relation'within the adjacent recesses of theibody and clamp members.

However, such clamps -have'had'the disadvantages that in yorder to provide space -for the manipulation of the vclamping-screws or bolts,the

`eye was required to be formed in-one only of the members and out Vof direct alignment withthe `axis yof the cable, placingpundue and undesirable strains upon the metal of which the vclamping body was formed.

It is therefore `anobject of .my invention to provide a wireline grip in .which two.substan- .tially identical complementary.membersareemployed, each of which is provided .withacable receiving recess and with one-half of `an-eye f membersoarranged that |when the .two comple- .mentary .members are placed .face .to ,face .and .secured-togetherby suitable bolts .the cable, will besecurely clamped .in .themeeting recesses of .the twomembers .while .thetwo .halves of the eye portions of Vthe .two members .will .form ltogether ,a complete eye for receiving V/atrunnion-or other device to which the cable is `.to .be connected. .Another .object of my inventionais-to .provide ,a

device-,of fthefcharacterY .described in .which :ample Lspace .may be providedior .the Lreception :of the clamping bolts-without requiring the disposition cured to each other by clampingbolts, eachfhalf dening in adjacently disposed faces alchannel yof'arcuate'cross"section for receiving the-end of a cable,` and inwhich coactingfradial ridges are provided Ain -each channel to dene-a tortuous cable receiving` channel and for engaging yand clamping-the cable.

`Other objects and advantagesofimyinvention willbe apparent from -a study poi `the lfollowing specifications, read 'in connection with theaac- .companying drawing, "wherein:

Fig. l'vis a perspective view illustratingrthe appearance `and construction of the preferredfembodiment of my invention and the rmanner-in which the sameis employed for'eiecting a connection'between the horsehead sling `cablesand the 'carrier bar employed' in oilwell pumping installations;

Fig. 2-is a cross'sectional view taken substantially along the line II-II of Fig. V1; and

Fig. Sis also across'sectional view-taken substantially along-the line III-,III of Fig. 1.

VReferring to the drawing, I'have 4illustrated in Fig. 1 va. portion of ,a'typicaloil well pump installationiwhich includes a polishedtrod, a'fragment `of which is identified by the reference character I in Fig. 1. 'This polished rodforms the uppermost member-of a string of sucker rods which'are extended from the ground'surface 'lto a reciprocating pump located deep 'within the well bore. The `polished rod I and-the sucker rod-string attached thereto is employed `for'tl'ievpurpose of imparting a reciprocating motion-to the pump plunger and the surface pumping equipment ordinarily includes an oscillatingwalking beam which, by means of a horsehead and accessories,

is connected to the polished'rod `to reciprocate -thepolished rod asthe walking'beam oscillates.

These connectionsaccessories ordinarily include -a-.carrierfbarl Pwhich is securely clamped 'to the .polished rod'l Yandwhich vprovides va .pair of laterally extending trunnions 3 and 4 to which horsehead sling cables 5 and 6 are pivotally connected. 'Ihe carrier bar 2 may be of any conventional construction, although the form shown in Fig. 1 comprises an improved type of carrier bar which, however, forms no part of the present invention but constitutes the subject-matter of my copending application Serial No. 411,043 filed September 16, 1941 and entitled Clamp type carrier bar.

'Ihe present invention is directed to a wire line grip, two of which are illustrated in Fig. 1 and identified by reference characters 1 and 8, respectively, these grips being employed for the purpose of effecting a pivotal connection between the sling cables 5 and 6 and the trunnions 3 and 4.

The grips 'I and 8 each preferably comprises a pair of complementary members 9 and |0 adapted when assembled to provide a substantially eye form which is characterized by having a trunnion receiving opening extended therethrough. The members 9 and I0 are separable along aplane which includes the axis of the opening this plane being defined by upper meeting faces I2 and I3 and lower meeting faces I4 and I5.

'I'he upper portions of the members 9 and I0 are preferably enlarged laterally of the axis of the opening I I so as to give each member a substantially T-shaped form which is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, this lateral enlargement of the members 9 and I9 serving to define clamping lugs |6 and v I1 which are best illustrated in Fig. l.

The meeting faces I2 and I3 are provided with longitudinally extending grooves I8 and |9. These grooves are extended axially of the members 9 and I0 and transversely of the axis of the opening and are so located as to define a channel for receiving a cable when the members 9 and I 0 are assembled as illustrated in the drawing.

Each of the grooves I8 and I 9 are provided with a plurality of circumferentially extending ridges which extend radially inwards of the channel defined by these grooves. The ridges 20 are spaced axially of each other along the grooves and are preferably formed with a smoothly curved cross section as is illustrated in Fig. 2. Furthermore, the ridges 20 which are formed on the member Il) are so located as to lie opposite the spaces between adjacent ridges 2|) formed on the member 9 when the members are assembled. 'I'he ridges 29 thus coact to form a tortuous cable receiving channel and the ridges 2l) serve to engage the sides of the cables 5 or 6 and permit the cables to be distorted to conform to the tortuous channel in which they are received, thus providing a high frictional engagement between the members 9 and IU and the cables to prevent the cables from slipping axially of the channel which is dened by the grooves I8 and I9.

This frictional engagement between the members 9 and I0 and the cable is obtained by employing clamping bolts 2| and 22 which are passed through the clamping lug portions I6 and I1 of each of the members 9 and I 0.

As is illustrated in Fig. 3, the lug portions I6 of one of the members is provided with a clearance opening 23 adapted to freely pass the shank portion 24of the bolt 2|, whereas, the other of the lug members I6 is provided with a threaded opening 25 aligned with the opening 23 and adapted to threadedly engage the threads which are formed on the shank 24.

Preferably the lugs I6 and of each of the members is provided with one clearance hole 23 and one threaded hole 25, thus permitting the rections as is illustrated in Fig. l. By adopting this form of construction, I am permitted to space the bolts 2| and 22 closely adjacent the grooves I8 and I9 without incurring the difliculties which would arise if both of the bolt heads were placed on the same side of the device and resulting from one of the bolt heads interfering with the use of a wrench on the other bolt head. The bolts 2| and 22 are employed to draw the members 9 and I0 toward each other to thereby securely clamp the cables 5 or 6 in the channel dened by the grooves I8 and I9 and between the ridges 20.

Axial alignment of the members 9 and IB may be maintained by providing an auxiliary clamping and guiding bolt 26 which is passed through a clearance hole 21 formed in one of the members and threadedly engaged with a threaded aperture 28 formed in the other of the members, the bolt 26 interengaging the members at the location of the lower meeting faces I4 and I5.

In applying the device t0 a cable, the bolts 2|, 22 and 26 are loosened sufliciently to permit the parts 9 and I0 to be separated a sufcient distance to permit the cable 5 or 6 to be inserted within the cable receiving channel. The bolt 26 although loosened is preferably left in threaded engagement with the member 9 so that as the bolts 2| and 22 are tightened to clamp the cable in its channel, the bolt 26 will serve to guide the members in their movement toward each other and to maintain the device aligned until the full desired clamping pressure is applied. This clamping pressure may then be augmented by tightening the bolt 26.

When the device is to be used for connecting cables to trunnions, as is illustrated by way of example in Fig. 1, the lower portions of the members 9 and I0 are preferably provided with a rounded contour such as that illustrated at 29 in Fig. 3. This may be accomplished by forming those parts of the members 9 and I!) which terminate in the meeting faces I4 and I5 with a substantially cylindrical cross section imparting to the faces I4 and I5 a circular form. This permits the wire line grips 'I and 8 to rock about an axis which is extended parallel to the guiding bolt 26 and permits the device to accommodate for slight misalignments in the apparatus to which it is connected.

From the foregoing it wil1 be apparent that I have provided a wire line grip which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture by reason of the substantial identity in design and shape of the two complementary members employed and in which a more positive and secure grip may be obtained upon the cable by employing the radially extending ridges in the cable receiving channels or recesses by which the cable when gripped is forced into a tortuous path, insuring substantially uniform gripping of the cable over the entire length of that part of the cable received in the channels.

It will also be noted that by employing the bolt 26 below the eye opening formed by the two members 9 and I0, the effective width of the cable receiving channel may be readily adjusted to conform with the diameter of the cable with which it is used While still maintaining substantial parallelism between the two meeting faces of the recesses or channels to thereby insure substantially uniform gripping of the cable throughout the length of the channel while at the same time the bolt 26 will hold the lower ends of the members 9 and I0 from spreading apartvunder While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details of construction shown or ldescribed therein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a wire line grip, a pair of complementary members which when assembled together define an eye member having a trunnion receiving opening therethrough, said members each having meeting faces disposed on opposite sides of said opening and in a plane including the axis of said opening, said members being enlarged at one side to define meeting faces at said one side of greater extent than the meeting faces at the other side, said members each having a groove of arcuate cross section formed in said greater meeting faces and extended into said opening to dene a cable receiving channel when said members are assembled together, said members having a plurality of spaced ridges of a smoothly curved cross section extending circumferentially of and radially inwards of said grooves, the ridges on one of said members being so disposed as to lie opposite the spaces between adjacent ridges on the other of said members when said members are assembled together, a pair of bolts threadedly interengaging said members at said one side of said opening, said bolts being disposed on opposite sides of said grooves, and another bolt threadedly interengaging said members at the other side of said opening.

2. In a wire line grip, a member having a tortuous cable receiving channel formed therein and having a trunnion receiving opening formed therethrough transversely and intersecting said channel, said member being formed of complementary halves separable along a plane extending lengthwise of said channel and defining one pair of meeting faces disposed on the opposite side of said opening from said channel, said meeting faces each comprising an area of substantiallyr circular form, screw means for drawing said halves together to clamp a cable placed in saidr channel, and a guiding and auxiliary clamping bolt extended between said halves through said meeting faces and threadedly interengaging said halves for holding said halves in alignment as they are drawn together.

3. In a wire line grip, a member having a cable receiving channel formed therein and having a trunnion receiving opening formed therethrough transversely of and intersecting said channel, said member being formed of complementary halves separable along a plane extending lengthwise of said channel and defining one pair of meeting faces disposed on the opposite side of said opening from said channel, said meeting faces each comprising an area of substantially circular form, screw means for drawing said halves together to clamp a cable placed in said channel, and guiding means extending between said halves through said meeting faces for holding said halves in alignment as they are drawn together.

4. A wire line grip comprising a pair of headed clamping bolts; and two substantially identical members each having on one face thereof a cable receiving channel and a recess disposed between the channel and the end of the member, each of said members being provided with a pair of bores disposed on opposite sides of said channel and extending through said member from said one face thereof, one of the bores of each of said pairs of bores being internally threaded to threadedly receive one of said clamping bolts and the other bore of each of said pairs of bores having a diameter sufficient to freely pass the other of said clamping bolts, whereby said members may be placed adjacent each other with said faces in meeting relation to define a trunnion receiving eye at the juxtaposed recesses and whereby said clamping bolts may be inserted from opposite sides to inter-engage said members and clamp a cable in said channels between said members.

5. In a wire line grip construction, a grip member having on one face thereof a cable receiving groove and having a channel formed in said one face between said groove and one end of said member and extending across the full width of said member, said member also being provided with a pair of bores disposed on opposite sides of said groove and away from said channel extending through said member from said one face thereof, one of said bores being internally threaded to provide for a threaded engagement with a clamping bolt, and the other of said bores having a diameter somewhat greater than the diameter of said one bore to permit a clamping bolt to be freely passed therethrough, whereby two of said members may be placed face to face to define a trunnion receiving eye at the juxtaposed channels and inter-engaged by clamping bolts passed through said members from opposite sides thereof to grip between said members a cable placed in said grooves.

6. In a wire line grip, a pair of complementary members which when assembled together define an eye member having a trunnion receiving opening therethrough, said members each having meeting faces disposed on opposite sides of said opening and in `a plane including the axis of said opening, said members being enlarged at one side to define meeting faces at said one side of greater extent than the meeting faces at the other side, said members each having a groove of arcuate cross section formed in said greater meeting faces and extended into said opening to dene a cable receiving channel when said members are assembled together, a pair of bolts -threadedly interengaging said members at said one side of said opening, said bolts being disposed on oppo- 

